7.12.2011

camping highlights.

I have made the executive decision to simply touch on a few highlights from our camping trip. when I'm done babbling, I'll leave a link to the slideshow. feel free to check it out, if you so wish.

The Campground

we stayed at Mavreeso Campground in the San Juan National Forest. (it's located 15 miles east of Dolores, Colorado and is situated on the West Dolores River.) the campground had been recommended to us by friends-- we were told it was a beautiful area, and pretty low key as there are only 20 sites total. plus, it was a mere five and a half hour drive. trust me, anything longer and I'm tempted to bail out and hitchhike. not that I ever would, but you know, LAST RESORT.

after reading online that the campground was located on a river, I admit I was a wee bit skeptical. all I could envision was this huge, raging river, and kids getting washed away downstream. my stress level sky-rocketed. I mean, do we keep a lifejacket on the kids 24/7, or what? it didn't sound very relaxing.

well, come to find out the West Dolores River couldn't have been a more perfect one to camp on. while the current was relatively swift, at the deepest, it was maybe up to my knees. along the bank, the water barely covered the tops of my feet. Scarlett and Rowan were content to throw rocks and splash in the shallow water, while the older kids built dams out of rocks, waded back and forth across the river, and went tubing (we drove to Cortez one afternoon and picked up a couple tubes from Big O' Tires.) fun times.

view from campsite. we weren't actually right on the river... maybe about 100 feet back. it was indeed a beautiful area.

looking at the campground from the other side of the river.

the above right photo gives you a good idea how shallow the river was.

the kids had a gas tubing. they would hop in the river at our campsite, and then float downriver to Tom and Kristi's campsite.

Fireworks

we drove to Telluride on the evening of the 4th to watch fireworks. one word: phenomenal. in my 34.9 years of life, I have never witnessed such a display. add in the stunning mountain backdrop while we sat nestled in the valley, and wow. the blasts echoed off the mountains and literally shook the ground. pure awesomeness. a must see. also, a ride on the free gondola is always fun, which we did beforehand.

waiting for fireworks. you can see the clearing in the pines where the fireworks were launched from (center of pic), and they exploded directly over our heads. SWEET.

Day Trips

on two of the days, we set off hiking and exploring for the afternoon. the scenery was gorgeous, the wildflowers in full bloom. we did have a few clouds and some occasional sprinkles, but fortunately, no torrential downpours. that would've put a serious hamper on our activities. we definitely lucked out weather wise.

Trout Lake.

Lizard Head Trail.

Fish Creek Trail.

Activities

in between our little excursions, we played many-a-game of bocce ball, decorated cupcakes, ate s'mores and sipped hot cocoa, told stories around the campfire, laughed, swam, relaxed, and then relaxed some more. in fact, we had planned on coming home Thursday, but we were having such a good time that we decided to stay an extra day.

there were no showers at the campground, so the river it was.

Four Corners

on the way home we stopped at Four Corners. and while it was kind of "cool" to be in four states at once, I would definitely label it as one of those 'been-there-done-that-got-the-picture' type of stops. (FYI these three pictures cost $5 a piece, I better frame them, lol.)

Thanks for this post!! My own family has traveled up to the Dolores area three previous times, but this is the first time we'll be staying at Mavreeso Campground. Thanks for your beautiful pictures and for the suggestion for tubes from a tire store!! We will DEFINITELY do that!!